10 PS2 Open-World Games That Felt Big a Long Time Ago

PS2 games had a special feel to them that no other system had. The graphics were a bit muddy, but there was a charm to it and something that immediately told you, "yeah, you're playing a PS2 game right now." If you weren't there for it, it's hard to describe, but so many of today's big-time games started their blueprint over 20 years ago.

The open-world games in particular were special because they were messy. We didn't have the clean presentation of today's open-world games; it was a bit chaotic, and it relied on you to use your brain rather than following objective markers.

We're going to check out some PS2 games that felt big before open-world games were the norm.

10 Shadow of the Colossus

The Power of a Barren World

Shadow of the Colossus is one of the most remarkable games ever made and one of the original open-world style games. However, this game wasn't full of icons or objective markers; it was just you and a bunch of massive creatures. That was it. It was a boss rush game of sorts, but it still felt absolutely massive. It was scary and mysterious, and it did that with zero cities, zero random encounters, and zero objective markers.

The way the world was full of almost nothing but still felt big was an artistic and technical achievement for the ages. It did exactly what it wanted to do, and Team Ico was rewarded with their biggest hit to date. It also showed developers what the usage of a space can mean. Shortly after, Oblivion released and capitalized on this idea, effectively changing the gaming industry permanently.

9 The Getaway

The Gritty City

The Getaway was not nearly as heralded as its inspiration, Grand Theft Auto, but it still was a pretty solid experience in its own. Where it really flourished, though, was in its depiction of London. The vision of the gritty, London crime underworld here was impeccable. Every location felt run down, dirty, and gray, and the game as a whole felt like a Guy Ritchie movie come to life.

The way the game uses its interior environments makes it feel like there are two worlds to explore. The normal city streets and the gritty underbelly, it wasn't as full of stuff to do as its inspirations were, but that didn't matter. The city felt a bit more realistic, and you felt like the incognito gangster you were supposed to be rather than a raving lunatic gunning down everything in your sight.

8 Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction

Open World Chaos

Mercenaries: Playground of Destruction is one of the true underrated masterpieces of the PS2 era of gaming, and it achieved that by being an open world for you to explore and destroy at your leisure. This game was about one thing: blowing everything up and looking cool while doing it. It's got a pretty large map, and it has this go anywhere and fight anything approach that made it feel like endless fun was to be had.

This felt like the blueprint for something like Ghost Recon: Wildlands. It really felt like you were in a dangerous world, free to do whatever you'd like. There are main missions to complete, side missions, and the ability to level pretty much any area of the game with a wide variety of weapons and even some air support. It felt like a game-changer in terms of third-person shooters, and it took the open world formula to the next level.

7 Steambot Chronicles

The Robot-Filled Open Road

Steambot Chronicles is a forgotten gem for sure, and one of the more interesting open worlds we've seen. After some early story segments, the world opens up to you to explore at your leisure. Whether in your Steambot or in your trusty Trotmobile, you can explore long stretches of expanse between towns and different areas of interest.

It was a game ahead of its time, and its vision of an alternate version of the industrial revolution that was filled with robots made the game so interesting to explore. There was mystery there, and it's something a lot of open-world games fail to incite in the player. That feeling of what's over there is a way more investing feeling than "go to this marker right here". That alone made the world feel fascinating and bigger to explore than it really was. It was about the why when it came to exploring here, not the what, and that's as important as anything.

6 Scarface: The World is Yours

Tony Lives

Scarface: The World is Yours is among the more interesting open world games to come out for the PS2. The concept alone is great. What if Tony Montana lived? That's the question the game poses here, and it actually does it quite believably. You have to build your fallen empire up from scratch following your escape from the mansion, but the way it happens is written quite well. You have to build your drug empire up district by district while also watching out for local gangs who want a piece of the pie as well.

It's much different than your typical GTA clone in this way, and the city itself is a thrill to explore. Miami is brilliantly realized here, but what makes the world feel big to explore is that you're interacting with tons of individual buildings and stores and buying them in certain cases. It's not just about roaming the streets but also exploring the interiors. It's a highly underrated game and one of those hidden gems that you find every so often from a forgotten era.

5 Jak 3

A Sendoff for the Ages

Jak 3 is one of the more remarkable open-world games ever made. It came out in an era where that was far from the norm, and yet, it's a fantastic game with a bigger world than you'd expect to explore. While it doesn't approach anything as we see in modern times, Jak 3 felt big and mysterious because of all of the different locales and cities you get to explore.

And you're not stuck on foot playing the game either, as there are a bunch of vehicles to help you traverse or fight your way through this impressive as hell open world. Everything is seamless here, which is incredible for this era, and it helped make Jak 3 one of the best trilogy enders in gaming history. The world felt big and dangerous and made sense geographically in a way that most games hadn't quite grasped yet.

4 Gun

The Wild West Before the Redemption

Many people think Red Dead Redemption is the first open-world western game. They're wrong. The first game of that ilk was Gun. Starring Thomas Jane in the lead role, this was in almost every way the true inspiration for Red Dead Redemption. It came towards the end of the PS2 lifespan, but it was fantastic, with thrilling shootouts, a mature and well-written story, and some really dark elements to it as well.

The whole world was yours to explore here. It definitely took more than a few pages from Grand Theft Auto, but it felt like something all its own. The only problem with the game is that the adventure was just a bit too short for most. Other than that? This was one of the best games I can remember ever renting in person. Yes, that ancient practice. Regardless, the way the world was treated here was really smart, and although it wasn't an enormous world to explore, it felt big and made great use of all its various locations.

3 Spider-Man 2

Swinging in the City

Spider-Man 2 is a revolutionary game in the open world genre. Sure, other games had cities to explore, but none had realistic depictions of real cities to explore. Spider-Man 2's attempt at giving us a realistic-looking New York City to explore, on this scale. Sure, some games had you driving around and walking the streets, but none had you soaring through the skies on webs, climbing up skyscrapers, and doing incredible, inhuman feats.

Spider-Man 2 did, and despite having all of Spidey's abilities at your disposal, the game still felt massive. It was such a cool feeling to explore the different blocks, interact with people all over, and see random crimes taking place with or without your interaction. It was a moment in gaming that would shape much of the superhero genre in the years to come, and it all started on the PS2.

2 Grand Theft Auto: Vice City

The World is Yours

While Grand Theft Auto 3 is the game that started this whole thing, Grand Theft Auto: Vice City was the first time a world really felt alive to me. Vice City was a massive place filled with endless things to do, and the scale was absolutely staggering at the time. The story was part of this, as it introduced you to different parts of the city throughout the game, making everything feel so much bigger in the process.

It was a game that used space incredibly well, and the population was constantly walking around and acting like real people. It made you feel like a small fish in one big pond, and the progression from nobody to infamous crime lord was an epic one, and you felt it as you progressed through the game, making just one location feel like an entire world you explored.

1 Final Fantasy XII

A Massive Journey

Final Fantasy 12 may not technically be an open-world game as we know it today, but it was still an incredibly huge journey. Each of the massive areas you explore felt like its own open world, with tons of different locales, a bunch of dungeons, and some really impressive environments on display as well. There were very few directives on where exactly you were going or what you could do when you got there, but it didn't matter. It felt like a grand journey as much as any modern open-world RPG manages to do.

It did this with expansive-looking areas, which made sure the places you could explore were full of things worth checking out, while providing vistas in the distance that drove a feeling of vastness, even though you knew you wouldn't be able to explore anything in those areas. In a way, it made invisible walls feel smart, giving you glimpses of lands beyond, but keeping them just from your grasp. It's something that later entries in the series have not done close to as well, despite embracing open-world mechanics fully.